BYU’s undefeated dream crashes to Earth in stunning loss to Kansas

It was a dream that couldn’t last forever, and on a cold Saturday night in LaVell Edwards Stadium, No. 6 BYU’s unbeaten run came crashing down in gut-wrenching fashion. The undefeated Cougars, who’d made a habit of pulling out victories in the final moments, came up short when it mattered most, falling 17-13 to Kansas in a game that featured a pair of backbreaking plays.

The final sequence, a textbook example of how quickly momentum can flip in college football, left BYU’s playoff hopes bruised and battered. With two minutes left and a first-and-10 at the Kansas 15-yard line, the Cougars, down by four, had the game in their hands. But the offense sputtered when it counted, failing to muster the crucial score to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

What could have been a heart-stopping comeback turned into a lesson in missed opportunities. Like so many undefeated teams before them, BYU discovered that the path to glory is littered with pitfalls — two of which were unforgivably self-inflicted.

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In the big picture, this loss will send the Cougars tumbling down the rankings, much to the delight of the Big Ten and SEC, whose members are already looking for ways to squeeze in more teams for the College Football Playoffs. For BYU, the road ahead is a bumpy one: next stop, Arizona State, where they’ll have to shake off this painful setback if they want to stay in contention for a Big 12 championship.

“We’re disappointed in the outcome,” said head coach Kalani Sitake.

“We now get to learn from this and move on. It wasn’t the result we wanted. We didn’t play our best. We have to make more plays and there were too many mistakes to win,” he said.

“We need to regroup,” said wide receiver Chase Roberts. “Coach Sitake told us to not bring the negativity home to the family, but man up and get back to work on Monday. Love and learn. That’s what we need to do now. All our goals are still intact.”

Indeed, BYU did some things right. They held Kansas to just 242 total yards, outgaining the Jayhawks by 112 yards, and winning the time of possession battle. But football is about finishing, and on this night, the Cougars couldn’t finish.

Kansas, for all its frustration this season, found a way to win. The Jayhawks, now eyeing bowl eligibility, made the most of BYU’s miscues. After shocking Iowa State the previous week, Kansas was ready to strike when the Cougars made their fatal errors.

For BYU, this game will sting. They had a chance — an excellent chance — against a team that, despite being dangerous, came in with just three wins. The football gods had robbed the Jayhawks from potential wins when they’d been in one-score games late in six games earlier this season. But big-time programs don’t lose games like this on their home turf. They don’t make self-destructive mistakes with the game on the line.

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Let’s talk about the killers. The first came right before halftime. With BYU driving and a chance to take a 17-10 lead into the locker room, quarterback Jake Retzlaff threw an interception at the Kansas 5-yard line. It was a terrible mistake. A well-designed play, but the execution was off. Retzlaff tried to force a pass to his tight end against one of the best corners in the Big 12, Mello Dotson, and the result was a momentum-shifting turnover. A potential 17-10 lead turned into a 10-10 tie.

The second blow came in the fourth quarter, when a punt hit a BYU player in the helmet, giving Kansas a gift-wrapped 3-yard drive that ended with a touchdown run by Devin Neal. It was the kind of fluke that makes you question fate, but even more so, it was a painful reminder that in the margins of college football, sometimes you make your own luck — and BYU didn’t.

BYU’s defense did what it could. Marque Collins snagged an interception and the Cougars kept Kansas out of the end zone for most of the game. But defense alone doesn’t win games. You need a complete effort, and BYU’s offense — on this night — wasn’t up to the task.

The Cougars should have won. There’s no excuse for failing to convert in the red zone when they had the ball at the 15 with two minutes to go. On third-and-6, a pitch to running back Hinckley Ropati gained nothing, and then, on fourth down, a false start penalty pushed them back five yards. That set up a fourth-and-11, which ended with a pass to Roberts that came up a few yards short of the first down.

It was a classic meltdown, a rare failure for a team that’s thrived on late-game heroics. The Cougars had managed to keep the game close all night, but when the moment arrived, they couldn’t rise to the occasion. You can’t help but wonder if two quick slants to Roberts, the same plays that had set them up earlier in the drive for big gains, might have been the key to unlocking that final touchdown. Instead, they went conservative — and it cost them.

As for that fateful interception before halftime? It was a disaster. Had Retzlaff moved off the fade and looked inside, receiver Keenan Marion was waving his arms and was wide open in the end zone. A killer mistake that turned the game on its head.

“We can’t do that,” Sitake said after the game, admitting the call was a mistake. “Stupid call at the end.”

It was BYU’s only red-zone turnover of the season, ending a remarkable streak of 16 consecutive red-zone scores. And it’s a loss that will haunt the Cougars for a while.

Kansas played well enough to win, but BYU — playing in front of a loud, energized home crowd, as the No. 6 team in the nation — should have found a way to make the plays when it mattered. It’s a missed opportunity, no two ways about it.

Now the Cougars have to move forward. Next Saturday, they face an ASU team that looked impressive in dismantling Kansas State earlier in the day. The Sun Devils will be ready, and BYU will need to put this loss behind it in its quest for a Big 12 title.

BYU scored only one offensive touchdown on Saturday. That won’t do in Tempe.

“We have a new sense of urgency, said Retzlaff, who told BYUtv the offense didn’t have a great week of practice, missing a lot of attention to details and urgency.

As tough as this defeat was, the season is far from over. But there’s no denying the sting of a loss that slipped away from BYU in the worst possible way.